The new owner came over to witness and help with the
initial engine run. Since I wanted him to learn as
much about the boat as possible, I left it to him to add
fluids to the engine, and to do most of the preparatory
work. In order to route the engine exhaust
outside, a couple years earlier we'd come up with a
system of PVC pipes and flexible couplings that could
clamp onto the exhaust outlet on the owner's previous
boat; this worked on Lively Heels's outlet as
well, though the connection to the curvaceous outlet was
a bit more tenuous. I clamped together the pipes
and led them outdoors while the owner worked in the boat
adding fluids. Later, we added 8 gallons of diesel
to the aft (center) fuel tank for the test-run.
It had been a long time since I'd installed the engine
and most components of the fuel system, so it took a
little reorientation and a couple minor missteps before
we managed to get some fuel flowing properly into the
dual filters and thenceforth to the engine. In
another episode of "Unnecessarily Thoughtless Design",
the bleed screw on the engine's secondary filter--a
hex-head bolt--was partially blocked by the fuel hose
and clamp (manufacturer-mounted) leading to the top of
the filter, which made the bleeding process--minimal
though it was--more irritating than necessary.
Once I remembered how things were supposed to work in my
carefully-installed system, the manual primer bulb below
the dual fuel filters worked excellently, and filled
these filters (we started with one and later stopped the
engine and switched to the other, filling it and
bleeding the engine again) quickly and easily.
Ignoring our minor re-learning curve, the process to
prepare the engine was quick and easy, and the engine
started almost before we turned the key the first
time--obviously well-ready for its entry into service,
finally. This choppy video is made up of several
segments showing the engine at various stages.
We stopped the engine after a couple minutes' run time
to recheck the oil and coolant levels, and after topping
off as needed we ran the engine for some time before
shutting down, the test a complete success.
The other project I wanted to get done while I had the
owner's help was to fill and bleed the steering system.
I found the instructions left a little to be
desired--hydraulic steering is not something I'd
installed before in my normal course of events--but once
we squared away the directions' intent, the process was
actually quick and easy. While the owner worked at
the helm to control the flow of new fluid into the helm,
I worked in the after steering room to bleed the system
of air and charge it fully with the fluid being pumped
in by the helm. Access was decent, but working
with finickey drain hoses and full cups of oil was less
fun than it could have been.
Afterwards, I discovered to my dismay that the steering
was hooked up backwards: left was right and right
was left. Fortunately, this was an easy fix, just
swapping the two hoses at the steering cylinder, which
was possible without making a huge mess or rebleeding
the system. Following the swap, the steering
worked correctly, and in the correct direction.
